Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Justin Sullivan/Getty TV advertising is responsible for 44 per cent of media-driven Facebook interactions for brands, according to new research released today.

The 'TV Response: new rules, new roles" study from GroupM, commissioned by Thinkbox, examined different media channels' effects on driving response and TV advertising's evolving and sometimes hidden role.

Types of advertising response measured in the study were via e-commerce, bricks and mortar and telephone. The study identified the additional consumer response which was directly attributable to media investment over and above the ongoing base level of response which is the product of many historical factors, including previous media investment.

The study found that TV is responsible for driving 44 per cent of all media driven interactions for brands on Facebook (e.g. likes and comments). This effect of TV on Facebook was two-fold. Firstly, exposure to TV advertising prompts consumers to directly engage with Facebook. Secondly TV drives significant volumes of sales and, after purchase, consumers go on to engage with Facebook.

Other key findings include that TV creates the most short to medium term sales: media accounts for, on average, 39 per cent of sales in the short to medium term (within 3 months of a campaign finishing). 33 per cent of these media-driven sales are driven by TV advertising, more than any other communication channel. By comparison, paid-for online search created 22 per cent, online display 12 per cent, affiliates 10 per cent, print 8 per cent, direct mail 8 per cent, radio 3 per cent and outdoor 1 per cent.

TV boosts Facebook. Pixabay

This study also found that TV is responsible for driving an indirect response through online channels, generating 32 per cent of media-driven sales via paid-for online search; 30 per cent of media-driven sales via online display and 20 per cent of media-driven sales via affiliate marketing.

Matt Hill, research and planning director at Thinkbox: "This research gives us something we've never had before: a comprehensive understanding of the wide-ranging effects advertising has. What's clear from GroupM's work is that TV advertising triggers response like nothing else; it delivers both long term brand building and short to medium term sales. It has also revealed the hidden effects TV advertising has on other media and how they work together. I hope this research can be put to use helping make advertising work even better."

TV advertising was 40 per cent more efficient at driving long term response per pound than the next best forms of communication, which were outdoor and print. Online display was the least efficient generator of long term response with TV 180 per cent more efficient.